


The Art Of

by mahoni



Series: Ars Arboreous [2]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: 1000-5000 Words, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Team
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-06-04
Updated: 2006-06-04
Packaged: 2017-10-03 05:19:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mahoni/pseuds/mahoni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sheppard could go from stillness to alertness, or to motion, or to deadly force, in a heartbeat. It struck Ronon as dangerous. Like Sheppard wasn't a coward, like he was just crazy instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Art Of

**Author's Note:**

> Missing scene from the end of "Ars Arboreous."

Six months ago, Ronon would have just watched the alien hit Sheppard, to see if Sheppard or any of his team had the balls to fight back. Three months ago, he would have killed the alien where it stood for even looking like it intended to beat his commanding officer while Sheppard was already on the ground bruised and bloodied.

Today he'd only fired a warning shot, because he couldn't let the alien hurt Sheppard anymore, but he also knew that killing the alien would be a strategically stupid move at that point.

Sometimes there was more to a situation than kill or be killed. Ronon wondered if he had known that once, and had just forgotten it over the course of seven years of being hunted by the Wraith. Maybe; he'd forgotten a lot of things in those seven years. Either way, this time around he'd learned it from Sheppard. The man might not be much of a threat in hand-to-hand combat, but he was smart. Turned out that smart was important when you had other people to worry about than yourself, which was something else Ronon had forgotten.

He stood beside Sheppard, ready to catch him if he fell. Other than McKay's occasional one-sided comments to Sheppard, who was too weary to do much more than let McKay hold him upright, the only sound in the little clearing was the rustling of the tall grass around them. Weir stood across the way, trying to make the aliens let Sheppard and the rest of them go. The creatures had no mouths; Weir talked to them by writing on a data pad and passing it back and forth. Ronon hated the quiet. He knew it didn't make any sense, but he'd rather Weir and the aliens were over there screaming at each other instead of scribbling in silence.

That wasn't true. What he'd rather do was pull Sheppard away from McKay and head to the gate with him, and let those ugly bastards just try to stop him. Waiting, doing absolutely nothing -- depending on other people to do their jobs instead of shooting or fighting his way out of the situation -- being _patient_ \-- was a lesson Ronon didn't think he'd ever learn.

Ronon saw Weir step away from the aliens and speak to Lorne. Then she headed in their direction.

"_Finally_," McKay said.

As soon as Weir was close enough, Teyla asked,

"Dr. Weir, what is happening? Will they allow Colonel Sheppard to go?"

Weir smiled, which meant she was convinced everything was okay.

"Yes," she said. "Along with the rest of you. Major Lorne and his team will stay with me until I'm through here." Then she looked at Sheppard and her eyes grew concerned. "I'm going to send for Carson and a medical team --"

Sheppard interrupted her with a brief shake of his head. "No. I can make it to the gate. Don't bring anybody else over."

"John --"

"_Elizabeth_."

Ronon had kept his eyes on the aliens, and saw one of the armed ones turn to the wall of grass that lay between them and the gate and aim its weapon at the ground.

"He can make it to the gate," Ronon said, and when they looked at him he tilted his head in the direction of the alien as it began to blast a path through the grass.

Ronon pulled Sheppard's free arm up over his shoulder and lifted him away from McKay. At McKay's startled look he said, "Go dial the gate. I've got him."

"Right," McKay said, hesitantly. "Right," and finally moved away, following the alien as it drew a straight line to the gate. McKay was all right for a civilian, but for somebody who was supposed to be so smart he spent a lot of time looking kind of lost.

Sheppard had let himself be passed around, but now Ronon could feel him gathering his strength, getting ready to move. Ronon was getting used to that. Sheppard always started out filled with stillness, no matter what. Ronon had at first thought it was weakness, maybe even fear and cowardice. It hadn't taken long to see how, when he had to, Sheppard could go from stillness to alertness, or to motion, or to deadly force, in a heartbeat. It struck Ronon as dangerous. Like Sheppard wasn't a coward, like he was just crazy instead.

Ronon asked him once why he didn't just always stay ready, but all Sheppard said was, "It's John Sheppard's Law of the Conservation of Energy." Before he could explain it McKay had said, "Oh, please, you just don't want to mess up your hair if you can possibly avoid it," and the two of them had started to argue, like they always did, and Ronon never got his answer.

Ronon thought he was starting to figure it out, but he still thought it was crazy.

When Sheppard had become as steady as he could get he said, "Let's get the hell out of here."

They approached Weir's group; she had gone back to her silent talks with the aliens and was completely absorbed in them. The red alien watched them go by, and Ronon watched it back, hoping it would make a move, give Ronon an excuse to break its neck.

"Keep an eye on her, Lorne," Sheppard said as they passed by, and got a sharp nod in return.

Sheppard also sent a glance at one of the aliens, which flapped a hand exuberantly at him in what Ronon guessed was supposed to be a wave. Ronon felt Sheppard huff a tired laugh, and he half raised a hand and waved back.

It was slow going. Sheppard couldn't put any weight on one leg, but wouldn't let Ronon carry all of his weight. Navigating the path, which alternated between gouges in the ground and partially flattened patches of grass, took time. Ronon didn't mind the pace, though, because at least they were moving. At least now if anybody wanted to take Sheppard, they'd have to go through Ronon first. And Teyla -- she was at their backs, her steps uneven as she turned now and then to watch for threats behind them.

McKay had the gate dialed up when they got to it. A handful of aliens stood off to either side, weapons at ease, and none moved to stop the four of them as they went through.

On the Atlantis side, Ronon helped Sheppard over to the edge of the platform as the gate closed behind them. One of the Atlantean guards came up to tell them that a medical team was on its way.

Sheppard sank down, easing his leg out in front of him, and slouched forward to lean his head in his hand. McKay stood close, shifting impatiently from foot to foot for a few moments. Finally he muttered, "What the hell is taking them so long?" and turned abruptly and hurried away down the hall.

Sheppard looked up at Teyla and Ronon.

"How are you guys, really?" he asked.

"Fine," Ronon said.

Teyla nodded in agreement, saying, "We are uninjured."

"Good," Sheppard said. "Because I want you to go back there. Corporal," he said to the guard. "Get them each a sidearm and a headset."

As the soldier moved off to do as he was told, Sheppard said, "It's not that I don't think Lorne's team is up to taking care of Dr. Weir, I'd just feel better with a couple more of our people there to balance things out. And the aliens have seen you already, so it probably won't freak them out too much to see you again." He sighed, closing his eyes. "Just, go back and _be_ there. Don't do anything unless they make a move first. And stay out of the way of the red guy."

"We understand," Teyla said.

The soldier returned with the weapons and the headsets. Ronon was adjusting the little earpiece when Dr. Beckett appeared, trailed by a pair of medical techs carrying a stretcher and by McKay, who seemed to be herding them from behind.

"You know," Beckett said as he knelt beside Sheppard and gave him a once-over with his eyes. "It's been a full two weeks since you were last in my infirmary. I was beginning to think you'd finally learned to play nice with the other children." He waved the techs over.

Sheppard grimaced, half scowl, half pain, as they helped him to the stretcher. "You know what, doc? Give me a bed and let me sleep for a couple of days, and then you can bawl me out all you want."

As soon as he was flat, Sheppard let out a breath in a long sigh, and Ronon saw him truly relax for the first time since McKay had been snatched up into the trees by the vines.

Ronon had finally decided that Sheppard wasn't weak or cowardly, or any less a soldier for all he claimed to be 'naturally lazy' and preferred to avoid fights. It was just that after so much time struggling to survive alone, Ronon didn't how to rest when he had the chance, save up his energy until he needed it.

It really was crazy, though, and there was an art to it, to knowing when to take a step back, when to be still, when to let down your guard and trust the people around you to take care of things. Ronon wasn't sure if he wanted to learn to be that way entirely. It felt too much like stepping off a cliff, with no one there to catch him.

Sheppard had begun to let his eyes drift shut, but as the techs raised the stretcher up onto its wheels, he opened them wide again. He turned his head a little and cocked an eyebrow at Ronon. "You did good back there, by the way," he said.

That caught Ronon off guard, and he was glad that Sheppard never expected him to say much. It was enough for him to nod and try not to half smile, and Sheppard settled back on the stretcher, closing his eyes, satisfied. Maybe Ronon didn't want to learn Sheppard's ways, but it occurred to him that he just might not be able to avoid it.

At Beckett's command, the techs pushed Sheppard away toward the infimary. McKay paused long enough to ask Teyla and Ronon if they were coming.

"Sheppard wants us to go back," Ronon said, as the gate whooshed on behind them. "Help Major Lorne keep an eye on Dr. Weir."

"Ah," Rodney said. "Well -- be careful."

"We shall," Teyla smiled.

Ronon didn't say anything, just spun the 9mm once in his hand before tucking it out of sight in his waistband.

McKay's face did something complicated, and he shook his head and said, "God, that's just so _cool_, that, that -- spinny thing you do."

"I'll teach you," Ronon said. When McKay stared at him blankly he added, "If you want."

McKay squinted at him slightly, as if he thought maybe Ronon was making fun of him. "Really?"

Ronon raised his eyebrows, and finally McKay's expression became both thoughtful and smug, and he nodded.

"I think I'll take you up on that," he said. He was grinning a little diabolically to himself as he headed to the infirmary.

Ronon followed Teyla to the gate. She was still smiling.

"I believe you are a bad influence on Dr. McKay," she said, in the affectionate way she had that always made him glad he hadn't had a sister to lose to the Wraith.

Ronon shrugged, momentarily at ease despite the fact that they were on their way back to the alien planet, back to the red alien Ronon still itched to fight. "There's a lot of that going around."

*


End file.
